Adrien should have known
by AubreyAnne
Summary: In hindsight it was obvious.


Adrien should have known.

He should have been able to see the similarities- he should have paid more attention- it really should have been obvious, but as the gentle pink light faded from his vision to be replaced with nervous shuffling and tepid smiles and the all too familiar freckles of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, all he could think about was how oblivious he had been.

The clues had always been there. She had always been there.

Each wistful smile that his Lady held while serenely gazing out from the top of the Eiffel Tower, over the city that they protected together, was echoed on his classmate's lips as they sat people watching and sharing lunch in the park between classes.

A touch on the shoulder after each particularly bad Akuma held the same weight as her fingertips brushed his forearm while letting him know that even Adrien Agreste needs to find some down time- that it was okay to stand up to his father and stop taking so many extra-curricular activities- that she and his other friends were worried about the ever growing shadows residing beneath his eyes.

That _look_ that Marinette would cast his way while trouncing him at Ultimate Mecha Strike was the same one that he would look for in the heat of battle; it spoke of confidence, it spoke of victory, it spoke of trust- he yearned for that look each time a new victim came around, and yet, he hadn't even bothered to notice it when it was right in front of his face.

The little body wiggle that worked its way down her spine anytime that she got too excited about something- whether in spots or not, his eyes couldn't help but to watch its progression down her body and he often found himself staring a bit too long for his own comfort. After catching himself gazing at Marinette for a moment too long, he would ask Plagg if it was normal to notice the physical aspects of his friends- all he got in response was a shrug, but Adrien convinced himself that everyone probably did that and he was just being anxious for no reason.

Her hair. The expressions. A roll of the eyes at a bad joke. Her nose crinkling in displeasure when something didn't go the way she was planning. All of it paralleled in his mind- two separate women in his life- never connecting but both finding a permanent place in his mind before sleep could consume him.

The conviction in her voice as she spoke out against Hawkmoth and Chloe alike. The way her posture changed from his meek classmate into one of authority never failed to catch his breath and his eye always found the same indignant tilt of her chin. The ire was palpable as her words commanded the attention of all but him, he would always be far too entranced on the way her lips looked as they formed her honorable words.

Each teasing remark echoed loudly in his mind. Some came with a small bop on his nose, ghosting over the mask that kept him away from her, while others were accompanied by the upwards tilt of the most alluring smirk tossed at him from over top of her latest design as he visited her once more as Chat Noir.

Never with Adrien though- both of them always had trouble with words when he was just a civilian. He kept going back to her balcony to try and catch why Marinette was so open and clever and sassy with Chat and not with Adrien, but the answer always felt just out of reach- just as close but just as far away as the secret to Ladybug's civilian identity- it kept him crawling back at odd hours of the night, conveniently not noticing just how many times Marinette was still awake after a late night patrol or Akuma attack- and he'd spend countless early morning hours watching as her eyelids slowly drooped and her ramblings cut off mid story.

The feel of her in his arms. Placing her gently under the covers after one of their late night visits or running frantically with her injured frame clutched against his chest, Chat had never paid attention to just how similarly they fit into him.

And the eyes. They were his favorite part of her- passionate, full of life, so expressive that he could tell her mood just by one look into the deep blue irises.

The Parisian lights reflecting back at him from their depths as Ladybug gasped, hands clutching the small necklace he had gotten her for Christmas, and thanking him, saying that it was beautiful and that she'd wear it every day under the collar of her shirt.

The playfulness dancing within them as Marinette watched him open up a handmade knit hat, complete with two cat eared cutouts, which she had made when the weather had dropped below the point of comfort.

The annoyance radiating, pupils dilated, as Chloe once more cornered the heroine asking for fan photos and signatures while exclaiming about them being the best of friends.

The gentle, compassionate gaze that Adrien often saw from Marinette as the four friends would sit around and he would have the opportunity to vent about the press or his father or how tired he was of always having to work.

The nervous flit of her eyes as she simultaneously tried to take in his reaction to her de-transformation and tried not to catch his own gaze by staring resolutely at the floor, small frown placed upon the delicate pink lips that belonged to one person he knew instead of two.

One step… and then another. Adrien closed the distance between them, the bell on his neck chiming with each movement, and gathered her into his embrace. Marinette's own body molded pliably to his own as her arms wound around his back and he couldn't help the purr that forced its way up his traitorous throat.

He could forgive himself for not noticing all of the similarities between Ladybug and Marinette sooner. He could explain away all of it away by claiming the magic of the miraculous', even Tikki would back him up later that evening while Marinette fretted over not being able to see Adrien behind his cat-like façade.

And yet, Adrien should have known- should have recognized something within himself far before the shimmering pink had shattered the illusion of being strangers- before the elated laugh and happy tears pricked at the corners of his eyes as he held her close.

He should have known before that moment of blind panic gripped at his heart as Ladybug declared her wish to know each other's identities.

He should have known before his mind went dangerously to Marinette's balcony and the way the fairy lights played upon her skin in the middle of a warm summer's night as the wind danced with her loose hair.

He should have known that his own heart would be wrenched in two at the knowledge of finally learning just who it was he was in love with beneath his Lady's mask.

Because he should have known that he had been in love with Marinette long before Ladybug had even considered taking off her mask and he couldn't believe how devastated he was prepared to feel knowing that he would have to choose between two amazing women.

What he still couldn't grasp, however, was how he had gotten so _lucky_ to have fallen in love with the same person twice.


End file.
